Michael Brissenden presents AM Monday to Friday from 8:00am on ABC Local Radio and 7:10am on Radio National. Join Elizabeth Jackson for the Saturday edition at 8am on Local Radio and 7am on Radio National.

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Tuesday 8 October 2002

AM is Australia's most informative morning current affairs. It covers the stories each morning that the other current affairs teams follow for the rest of the day. Below is the program summary with links to transcripts and audio (if available).

Bush takes first steps to end dockworkers dispute

Arguably the most powerful politician in the world, US President George W Bush, takes the first steps to force an end to a crippling US dockworkers dispute, an Australian union, the Australian Maritime Union has weighed in, dispatching seven representatives to stand with the American comrades on the picket lines.

Israeli raid on Gaza Strip

Palestinians are calling for United Nations peacekeepers to be sent into the Gaza Strip, after a massive Israeli raid in the Palestinian territory which left at least 13 people dead and more than 70 wounded.

Defections from Iraqi President's inner circle

Instability in the Middle East may also be extending to the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, and not just because of the threat of new Western military attacks. Iraqi Opposition groups claim that there's been a surge of defections from the Iraqi President's inner circle, and that they include security personnel from Saddam Hussein's tribal power base around the city of Tikrit.

Villawood separating families

A Malaysian woman in the Villawood detention centre in Sydney faces deportation while her five month old daughter remains in Australia. It's the second case of a possible mother and child separation that has come to light at Villawood recently. The lawyer representing the two women says that they received unsympathetic treatment in the detention centre, and has called on the Federal Government to take a more humane approach.

Northern Ireland Assembly facing suspension

The Northern Ireland First Minister says it's worse than Watergate, a spy scandal sourced it appears to the IRA and enmeshing its political wing, Sinn Fein, which now seems certain to see the suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly, putting the peace process in serious jeopardy.

Sniper terrorising Washington

Police in the United States have confirmed that a thirteen year old boy is the latest victim of a sniper who has terrorised the north west and north eastern suburbs of Washington D.C. for the past five days. The boy, in a critical condition, was gunned down after being dropped at school. Schools in the greater Washington region have been locked down but police have few leads on the sniper who seems to be saying 'catch me if you can'.

By-election in Cunningham may not favour Labor

The Federal Opposition is today throwing its heaviest political hitters at a Federal seat that should be easy pickings for Labor, but which, with an unexpected by-election approaching, is fuelling not a small amount of concern in the Party. Labor Leader, Simon Crean is having to counter disaffection with Labor's performance at the local council level, so he will be pledging to make the area a community safety zone, in a bid to capitalise on concerns about crime.

Nobel Prize for Medicine awarded for gene research

The Nobel Prize for Medicine has been awarded to three scientists for gene research, which sheds new light on cell death. The work by Britons, Sydney Brennar and Sir John Sulston and American Robert Horvitz could lead to more advanced treatments for cancer and AIDS, yet much of its been carried out on tiny worms.